Löwenstein and Stern families papers
Extent and Medium
folders
oversize folder
oversize box
7
1
1
Creator(s)
- Stern family
- Löwenstein family
Biographical History
Alfred Löwenstein (b. 1910) was born in Ortenberg, Germany to Siegmund (1876-1942) and Sophie (1885-1942) Löwenstein. He had one brother, Julius (b. 1913). Alfred and a friend fled Germany for Shanghai aboard the MN Victoria in 1939. He survived the war in Shanghai and immigrated to the United States in 1947 aboard the SS General Cordon. He married Lola Stern (whom he had known in Shanghai) in 1948 and they had one son, Gary. His brother, Julius, survived the Holocaust in a work camp and later immigrated to the United States. His parents were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942. Siegmund perished there in 1943. Sophie was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 where she also perished.
Lola Stern (born Irma Karola Stern in 1923) was born in Redwitz an der Rodach in Bavaria to Hugo (d. 1965) and Käthe (née Gutmann, b. 1900) Stern. She had one sister, Lisa (b. 1932). Hugo was a World War I veteran and worked as a merchant and insurance agent. Lola primarily grew up in Nordhausen. When she was fourteen, she was expelled from school for being Jewish. During Kristallnacht, Hugo was arrested in Erfurt and Käthe and Lisa were arrested in Nordhausen. After they were released, they applied for passports to emigrate from Germany. They were then fortunate to purchase tickets for the MN Victoria and sailed from Genoa, Italy to Shanghai in April 1939. In Shanghai, Hugo sold used clothing and Lola worked as a waitress. They were confined to the Hongkew section of Shanghai after Japan entered the war in 1941. The family immigrated to the United States in 1947 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gary Loy.
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Gary Loy in 2017.
Scope and Content
Documents and photographs regarding the experiences of Alfred Löwenstein and Lola Stern, both of whom separately fled Germany for Shanghai aboard the MN Victoria in 1939, survived the Holocaust in Shanghai, and later married in the United States. Also contains biographical information on their families, including the deaths of Alfred’s parents at Theresienstadt. Biographical materials of Alfred and Lola include German passports, employment references, identification cards, and documents related to immigration to the United States. There are documents related to Alfred’s parents, Siegmund and Sophie Löwenstein, including birth certificate and copies of archival documents from “Beit Theresienstadt” regarding their deaths at Theresienstadt, and documents of his brother Julius who survived in a work camp. There are also a small amount of documents of Lola’s parents, Hugo and Käthe Stern, who also survived in Shanghai. Additionally, there is an annotated poster of the MN Victoria. Photographs include prewar family photographs and depictions of Alfred’s and the Sterns’ travels on the MN Victoria in 1939. The photograph album primarily depicts the Sterns’ trip aboard the MN Victoria in 1939, but also includes postwar photographs of the Sterns’ immigration to the United States in 1947 and their lives in Philadelphia.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1910-1981; Series 2. Photographs, circa 1900-circa 1980
People
- Stern family
- Löwenstein family
Subjects
- Shanghai (China)--Jewish refugees.
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Refugees, Jewish--China--Shanghai.
Genre
- Document
- Photographs.
- Photograph albums.